STOCKTON — Six California Youth Authority staffers have refused a settlement that would have allowed them to resign, instead choosing to fight for their jobs.

The employees of the N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility near Stockton were fired last year after a fight between staffers and wards at the prison.

Settlement hearings continue this week for the employees, who are appealing their firings.

They refused an offer from CYA attorneys that would have allowed them to resign.

CYA administrators fired the six youth correctional counselors on Sept. 2, eight months after a surveillance camera caught two of them fighting with a pair of wards at the facility, officials said.

The two staffers caught on videotape were accused of using excessive force. The other four filed false reports after the incident, leading to their terminations, CYA administrators said.

The hearings held at the Northern California Youth Correctional Center near Stockton are expected to continue into March. All six deny the charges, according to documents filed with the State Personnel Board.